It has come to my attention that this comic bears a strong resemblance to a bit by Patton Oswalt (you should listen to it. He's really great. I once spent an evening in a cheesy piano bar with him. Really good guy), and possibly George Carlin (Never got to meet him. Know people who did. They say he was kind, but grumpy). The resemblance was unintentional, and I apologize to both of them or their surviving realatives, whichever is most appropriate.

I can easily believe that this is unintentional. If you listen to and watch a lot of comedy over the years, it all sinks in to your subconscious. When it does pop out again much much later, it gets hard to tell if it’s an original thought or not.

That’s what is preventing me from writing my own sitcom - I’m sure that any decent idea I inadvertently have would be traced back to “Cheers” or “Blackadder” !

Note from Scott: I'd love to watch a show made up of ideas from Cheers and Blackadder!

The Place: Revolutionary Boston.

Former Cricketter Sam Miggins opens a Pie shop with the help of his old coach Baldrick. Watch as they attempt to swindle they're wealthy customers Ben Franklin (An affable drunk played by Steven Frye) and Thomas Jefferson (A loud mouth know it all, played by Hugh Laurie)

"KILLING A GUY WITH YOUR BARE HANDS", taken most likely from the beginning skit of the 1999 "You're all diseased!" DVD by George Carlin when he rants about "Too much airport security". Not only hilarious but food for thought as to whether or not it might have been inspiration for the 911 terrorists concerning dangerous object which could surprisingly be allowed to be brought into a plane, prior to Sept. 11th 2001 !

Ok, I look at the 2 links provided. While it may be similar, it is similar in the sense blond jokes are similar. Scott's comic comes across original to me. I don't even pretend to know where the boundries are but based on readying the majority (I think) of Scott's work, it does not seem there is much to worry about.

Oh, for heaven's sake! AC was dead-on with the comment about blond jokes. Some blond jokes are tired from the get-go, while others are gut-bustingly funny. A sunset painting or photo might be another analogy; many are cliche and tired, but then there are the gems of expressive composition.

I would pay money to watch a comedy Tom Jefferson played by Hugh Laurie (whom I -still- think of as 'that guy from the TV version of Jeeves' vice 'that guy from House').

In re questions of copy, there was an issue recently where a graphic designer in Hong Kong came up with a nice tribute to Steve Jobs, and used the google to make sure no one else had the idea first. Of course, someone half-way around the world had, about a week earlier....

"Ideas are the easy part; execution the hard part" is the handy oversimplification.

I would suggest that, at some age, (60?, 70?) we gain a special driving lane similar to the carpool lane. This is a win-win, because the old folks don't have to worry about other vehicles as much, and the rest of us don't get stuck behind them when we need to drive faster than 10 mph.

A joke doesn't have to be utterly uniquely to be funny. While I can understand that a blatant rip-off might raise some heckles, you can't expect someone to produce a dozen comics each month, for years, and generate never-before-conceived ideas every time he puts ink to paper. (or copies-and-pastes stock from his comic library with a mouse. Whatever. I don't judge.)

What amazes me is that most of these birthdays always start with, "You get a new legal right on specific birthdays," usually involve the legalization of some sort of drug, and finally, they ALWAYS END with being able to legally murder someone.

How on EARTH!?! Is it just-- an intuitive joke? That is, if you conceive of the very concept of, "Birthdays are only fun when you're a little kid, we should do something to spice them up as you get older," it will be inevitable that you will ultimately progress to the notion of outlawed activities revoked, drugs legalized, and finally, the right to murder someone? Is it just-- obvious, once you begin that line of thought?